Sisters First, Idiots Always
by Dark Mind of the American Teen
Summary: Chapter One: Meiko finds out the truth, and Ensuu is the least of her worries. MeiAya...incest AU?


I have an interesting and personal tale to tell that coincides with the creation of this fanfic. If you don't want to read it, go ahead and just skip under the "A/N" section.

A/N: So I had been planning this fanfic for the alter half of the week, and had written a MeiAya oneshot fic the night before (Friday) and published Saturday afternoon. Like I said: I already had the premise for this fanfic planned through, pertaining to its beginning and the revelation of the relationship between the characters. I was planning to begin this story (I alread wrote the first 2,000 words of scenes) afterwards what I was about to do. About an hour after I published "Fantasy", I was skimming Facebook, as I tend to do, to lift my head out of the water of the "fictional world" (as opposed to actually going outside and experiencing the "real world") and I happened upon a post from my father. Now my father and I have a weak relationship: there is some love there but we just don't talk (mostly due to his lack of effort...dads) he left me with my mother when I was a baby and lived in the same neighborhood, but then remarried and move to another state on the opposite side of the country. He lives there with two stepchildren who are my honorary sisters and also has two adult sons from my step-mother's previous relationships. So we usually only exchange spare words on Facebook and the occasional awkward call consisting of "I love you, goodbye." Anyway, what's important is what the post said. Basically, he said that I have a half-sister. Well, he didn't say that. He said "I'm so happy I found my sister I've been looking for 18 years!1" Now, I had never heard of this sister. He has yet to contact me about the matter (Saturday night). Yes, you heard right, I found out that I had a sister on Facebook. I saw her picture and she looked just like me. Anyway, I could say a lot more things about this unusual situation, however I don't want to waste your time. I still can't wrap my head around it, and I don't really want to. My eyes are still wet. The funny thing is, that here, I get decide everything. But in the real world, I have no idea how my sister came to be. I hardly know my father's past. And the power I have here doesn't comfort me in anyway. I probably love these characters more than I love my own father..

The point is, that this is the peak of irony and eerie coincidence, and I am going to call on my emotional pain to make this fanfic as incredible as possible. If you did read all of that, thank you. Hopefully you enjoy the story.

After you read the fic, you will understand why this is so timely and ironic.

START OF THE FIC:

* * *

"_It's hard to be human,_" was not a thought characteristic of Himuro Meiko's mind. "Life is easy" and "life is a challenge" were tantamount to her, so it was atypical for her consciousness to drum up such a phrase. But it did, and it had her wondering where she went wrong. Nothing in her life seemed out of order—all her schemes were following their plots to the dot, her grades were well... but then there was that word called "happiness" that other humans were so fond of.

Meiko has asked herself what made her happy before and it only left her with a massive headache that took her off the field for a short period of recovery. So, yeah, Meiko didn't want to repeat that. But the two phrases were linked, weren't they?

Meiko considered herself to be an expert on human behavior, always "observing" (_touching_ and _twisting_) other people's minds. It was her delectation. Her own mind..her own feelings..had a separate location within her cranium.

She decided to break it down. There were two nouns, one verb in that phrase.

_Hard._ There were few things that Meiko deemed difficult.

_Human._ ..s are interesting. A quote from one of her favorite characters, Ryuk, the winged God of Death.

_Hmpf. _She was getting nowhere.

* * *

Just a week after Meiko discovers her sexual attraction to Mudou Ayana, she discovers that the fellow megane is her sister.  
It's not difficult to imagine her dismay. Both days were Mondays, bound to be of little pleasure (and Meiko was all about pleasure), but then that the first thing had to happen. That thing being, Meiko looking up from her textbook in homeroom, meeting eyes with none other Mudou Ayana. She had the habitual instinct to glare (with ambiance), but forced her lips into her signature intimidating smirk (slightly more impressive AND unsettling). However, initially unbeknownst to her, her facial muscles did not obey orders. Instead of curling into a practiced featured, her cheeks heated, presumably, to rose pink.  
_ A blush_. An emotional reaction that provokes the cheeks to heat _in a way she thought most uncomfortable_. Alright, so no one had round-the-clock absolute control of their body; its outward appearance. But Meiko had rarely blushed in her life ("Her name is Ju Ensuu.."). So why..was Mudou Ayana, her nemesis, her pet; provoking such an unwelcome reaction?  
Meiko spent the rest of the class; rest of the school day, unable to focus on her work, preoccupied by her own failure and its cause. She didn't even recall how or when she had lost Mudou's gaze. Mudou had probably returned the glare..and then Meiko didn't even want to think what.  
It wasn't until she had plopped into her overly-cushioned fine-linened bed with a worn copy of _1984_ that her mind haunted at—_that_.  
That _oh_. That heat-from-else-than-my-cheeks.  
The—_oh how she didn't want to say it_—..the crush.  
The stupid, idiotic, ridiculous, illogical, obstructive _crush_.

And when Meiko touches herself later that night, in her mind's eye, it's not Ensuu below her, it's Ayana above her.

The next day, she forces herself to regard it as a nightmare; regretful.  
Then of course, _of course_, for the rest of the week, actual dreams of the purple-haired girl are all she has for the rest of the week.

* * *

Then, Monday, she received a call from her father, a prominent member of the Japanese government. He wants to speak. In person.  
Bizarre, because that's the last thing he's wanted to do with her her entire life. Meiko hides her mystification, ensures that her shinyuu won't destroy herself in 24 hours, and bids Ensuu farewell.  
She doesn't dare fall asleep during the onerous train ride. She's always hated machines, cars, whatever. She hates the city even more. She abhors her father's fancy apartment, a seeming terminal for important, intelligent-lacking women when Mrs. Himuro—Himuro's diplomat second wife, not Meiko's biological mother, who she had little memory off—is off-island.  
Meiko is unsurprised to find him with a woman when she arrives. She's pissed, and confused, and she doesn't care.  
Meiko slams open the door to the room they're in with no inhibitions. She's aware she risks getting hit.

"I'm here, dad," and Meiko rolls her eyes to hide her nerves. Luckily, her father only had one arm around a woman's neck, and they're clothed. "I need to get back to school. What was it that you called me here for?" the teenager said almost sweetly. The woman completely ignored Meiko but Mr. Himuro saw his daughter out of the corner of his eye.

Meiko watched from the doorway, unable to hear but plenty able to interpret their movements. Her dad virtually had to pry the wine glass from the woman's fingers. She had to be less than ten years older than Meiko. Meiko had to stiffen her arms to prevent them from wrapping around her torso. Meiko stepped into the hall and assumed a neutral stance against the wall as her father led his failed tryst out. Thinking of that, Meiko felt a tiny burst of satisfaction, but her discomfort overcame the minute triumph. Once the woman was out, Mr. Himuro turned to his daughter with a frown. He hesitated and then gestured into the dorm.

Meiko shrugged, unable to look in the room or up to above his chest.

"I don't want to go in there," she said weakly. His frown deepened and he headed down the hall, Meiko reluctantly following.

"I have something to tell you that may upset you," he said once she had sat precariously on the couch in the other living area and stood across the room.

_I'm already upset. Since when do you care how I feel?_

"My first wife, your mother Kanako, called me yesterday."

"Is that so? Funny, I recall you telling me that the last time you two spoke was the day I took my first step." Meiko said bitterly, unable to hold her tongue.

"What she had to say transcends any dispute that may have ended our marriage." Masashi, his tone to match the politician he was. Meiko actually appreciated his speech, even if they could both detect the underlying absolute lack of familiarity in each other's words.

"She told me you had a sister." Meiko was startled only for a moment. She concluded it was likely before, anyway, that she'd have a _half_-sibling. Her cast-out mother had been stolen the life she'd birthed. Naturally, she'd want to try again with a man better than Himuro Masashi. Meiko expelled those _whydidsheleaveme-whydidsheleaveme-whydidsheleavemewithhim-__wasshewasamonstert__oo-alladultsaremonsters _thoughts that her blurry memories induced.

Masashi had been gauging her reaction. Her mask of indifference remained firm after the small fracture.

"So?" Meiko asked. _Does she meet want me to meet her daughter? Why? Why now? Did this new birth remind her of having me? Or is this sibling no child? Who's her husband? Where does she live?—_

Meiko's head threatened to explode and her eyes threatened to squeeze out tears.

He raised an eyebrow. _He raised an eyebrow._

"So I have a half-sibling? So what? What does..my mother want?" Meiko's voice was unsteady.

He had been standing, and sat down, sighing. His dark, dead eyes skimmed the room, probably for a surface containing alcohol. Preferably, fine. "Kanako told me that her daughter is 15. The reason she bothered to tell me is she said she goes to your school."

Meiko's eyes widened. What a coincidence. Her blood may have—no, definitely had—walked the same halls as she. Every day.

"There's something else. The girl is not your half-sister."

Meiko's eyes flicked to him, mistrustful. "What?"

"She's your full sister. She's my daughter. A couple of years after you were born, Kanako and I got back together and had a short affair. I didn't know, but she got pregnant."

Meiko inhaled sharply. _What a fucking surprise. _"So what..do we do?"

"We? We don't do anything. She should have told me years ago. She had her chance."

And what about the chance for that child? Meiko realized something. _She didn't want to ruin you. She loved you, and you pushed her out of her life, and brought her back for your selfish unsatiable needs_. Meiko, at that moment, discovered how deeply she truly detested her selfish, reprobate father.

"Tell me..her name..my sister's name, would you." Meiko asked quietly.

"Sure, speak to her if you like. However, I don't want anything to do with it. Her name is Mudou Ayana."

* * *

Tenchi. 5th Period.

"Mei."

"Mei."

"Mei."

"Mei."

"Meiko."

"Meiko!" Ensuu was about to flick her shinyuu. Ensuu didn't like harming Mei, or making her discontented in any way, but she really needed Mei's attention right now. So she flicked.

"Hm..?" Meiko said, drearily.

"**It's happening. I need to go to the nurse. I need you to take me.**" Ensuu whispered shyly, her hand resting under Meiko's hair on her neck near the flick-site. Her neck was warm, but weirdly sweaty. In the same place on Ensuu's neck, there was a self-done ying-and-yang tattoo. Self-done how, you ask? Never doubt a Ju. That's all.

"**Don't touch my hair,**" Meiko mumbled, and Ensuu knew that she finally had her attention, as opposed to the teacher, who had not had either's all week. But then Meiko's eyes brightened with concern as well as annoyance. "**Why did you even come to class today?**" Meiko accused, readjusting her hair, glasses, and uselessly bare notes.

"**I had no reason to expect it.**" Ensuu said guiltily. Yes, Ju Ensuu could be guilty.

_I thought I was a student. Not a babysitter._

_I suppose that's part of the swordbearer package; _Meiko didn't actually mind, she highly preferred taking care of her partner and getting out of class over remaining in this suffocating space. She met Ensuu's shaded panicked eyes. She shrugged the brunette coiled around her arm and slid out of her desk, to obtain a pass from the teacher. She didn't wait for her to finish her topic. A quick whisper in their ear was all it took. Meiko retrieved Ensuu and their things and left the classroom. She didn't expect to return to class.

They walked (Ensuu hobbled) in silence and Meiko cut a look at her shinyuu. _She's very proficient at masking her discomfort. That's valuable in a fighter._ But Ensuu's health was far more valuable.

Meiko placed a hand on Ensuu's shoulder.

"You'll be fine." Meiko said softly as they walked. Ensuu evade her eyes but was thankful. _Tā sh__ì __wánměi de_, she thought.

Ensuu has asthma. As of two weeks ago.

Meiko and Ensuu had mutually agreed that the fact was best kept a well guarded secret.

Ensuu, stubborn as ever, had refused to carry a inhaler on her person because of pride and whatever other illogicity; and Meiko, present for the diagnosis, knew that wouldn't last long. Ensuu didn't trust Japanese doctors, or doctors, or people, or Japanese people. Meiko was the sole keeper of Ensuu's trust and care. Even after this first public attack, Meiko surmised that Ensuu would refuse to carry the only medicine that could aid her. Meiko would do it for her. She would always take good care of her.

"**Don't say 'I told you so,'** " Ensuu mumbled as she gripped Meiko's shoulder for support.

"**I won't say it, but I'll think it, how about that**?" Meiko smiled.

"_R__è__nhé_." Ensuu mumbled, not only her lungs feeling heavy.

TBC

* * *

***Bold** speech means they are speaking in Chinese

_Tā sh__ì __wánměi de_ — "She is perfect."

_R__è__nhé _— "Whatever."


End file.
